Introductions?

So I’m kinda loving keychange’s discussion on how some of us chose our usernames. I loved reading everyones stories and I love learning about everyone else’s lives outside of tea.

The great thing about this site, is that we’re all passionate about tea and we drink it regularly, but I’m sure everyone else has other stuff going on in their lives.
I know there’s a bio on your profile, but what I’ve seen, that’s where people have their tea rating guide and how they first got into tea. But because of keychange’s thread, I found out that there’s a paleontologist among us, someone loved dying their hair (which I find quite fascinating), many has a husband and kids. Of course there are a WHOLE lot more stories in the thread itself, but those were the ones that stood out to me :)

I’m actually amazed by the age range of the users of this site. To tell you the truth, I automatically assume that everyone is female and 20 years old living in California because.. that is me.
I wanted to start this thread so I can start getting all of you a whole lot more! Other than a username and an icon, but like the person behind those pixels I see on my screen.

My name is Kyra (think Kyrannosaurus Rex, not Keira Knightley). I’m 20 years old and I’m currently studying Hospitality Management in a college in Southern California. If I’m not busy with schoolwork, I love watching tv! I had a blog on tumblr which was a typical //fandom// blog which had a whole lot of YouTube, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Merlin.. yeah a ton of other stuff.
And I’m a pretty big Disney fanatic! I had an annual pass a couple years ago, and actually for about 5 months last year, I participated in the Disney College Program where I worked at Disney World on an internship and that was probably the BEST experience I’ve ever had.
I love skiing, photography, and baking. Oh boy do I love baking! My mother never made cookies for me as a kid and I was kinda jealous of all the other kid’s mom’s making cookies for them so I decided to make cookies for myself one day and it stuck with me :)
I obviously don’t have a career right now, but in the future, I would love to stay with the Disney company and have a leadership role. When I was in 4th grade (when all the baking hype started haha) my ultimate goal was to be the head pastry chef for the Disney Cruise Line! But now that that dream has been a bit more tailored to what I’m actually studying at school, so my absolute ultimate ultimate dream, is to hopefully become a GM of a Disney Resort? That definitely is going to be suuuuper tough since it’s crazy competitive, so right now, the more achievable goal would be a leadership role within the Company.

If I had all the money in the world, I’d spend it on a nice DSLR, lots of tea/teaware (of course), and film scores.

Being a Disney fanatic in Australia is mostly just being crazy for the movies… you have so many more Disney opportunities in the USA! One of my friends was a cartoonist for Disney for a couple of years, which thrills me to no end. I’m guaranteed to cry and/or get goosebumps in pretty much every Disney movie.

You know, they do have Cultural Exchange programs for people living in Australia! I actually knew someone who enrolled in a community college for just one semester just so he could be considered a student and apply for the program haha.
I have to say, I am very fortunate to be studying at a school so close to Disneyland. If I wasn’t, then I probably would have never thought of doing another program! But it’s such a great experience :)
The movies are great though. I’ve seen so many Disney movies, and there are still a whole lot of classics that I need to watch!

Well mine might be a bit boring. I taught for 30 years (Special Ed., Reading Specialist and First Grade). I have a BA in Special Ed. A masters in Special Ed. and another Masters in reading. Loved it but I am also enjoying retirement. (Who wouldn’t?) I volunteer with the first graders doing reading instruction. I do that 2 hours a day 4 or 5 days a week. I’m really enjoying the volunteering. I’m an avid reader and science fiction fan (Especially Doctor Who!) BTW, i still have many DW books I can send out in exchange for tea :D ) I have two daughters in their 30’s. They are tea drinkers andscience fiction fans also. My husband and I have been married for 42 years. He is my best friend. Of course at times he still drives me crazy. He doesn’t drink tea or like science fiction. I grew up drinking tea. We brewed it at what ever temp the water got to in the kettle. We used one bag for all four of us. We left the tea bag in until we were ready to drink. No sugar, no milk. Sometimes I wonder why I kept drinking it. I have tried a lot of teas over the years before I had any “good” teas or loose leaf teas. I drank a lot of Celestial Seasonings and herbals from the health food store. Now of course I have been so spoiled by all the kinds of tea available that I really can’t drink the old stuff. During my first year of retirement I gained about 15 lbs. but of course I needed to lose weight before that. So now I’m using tea to help me lose some weight (along with Weight Watchers). I’ve lost 20 lbs since Sept. Yea! I still have a ways to go but I’m getting there. I walk 3 miles a day with a friend. I volunteer for the blind, driving and grocery shopping with them. I do that about twice a week. I make jewelry to give to friends and family. I have one cat who is the friendliest little thing you ever saw. (My husbands always wants to know how many cats everybody else has since he is sure that tea and cats go together.
Ummmm… I’m sure I there is more but I can’t think of much else to say.

Oh my gosh that’s so cool!
You know, I actually kinda sorta look up to you. You’re definitely older than I am, but ahh you’ve just had so many experiences and so many stories to tell to your kids and I’d like to think I’ll be like that someday. Fall in love, grow old, drink tea for hours on end hehe :)
And three miles a day!? That’s more than me! The most exercise I get is walking to class! See, where I live, campus is so close that if I drive to school, it’s just going to take like 5 minutes, and I can’t even park right next to my building because that’s for Professors only. So I just do that 45 minute walk uphill every day :) Knocks out my exercise so it makes me feel a bit better haha

Gosh… thanks. My best advice is to take college Spanish and get your ESL endorsement. Even if you don’t become fluent it will be on your records. The ESL doesn’t require you to have the foreign language just be able to teach second language learners. Most school districts seem to be requiring it to teach at a Title One school. Make sure you try several grades to find the one you really like. So many new teachers give up after a year or two because they were teaching at grade they really didn’t enjoy. All levels have their pros and cons. I love little kids and grades 1 -3 were great for me. Most of my teaching was at grade 1. In special ed get as many certifications as possible. A lot of programs go with Cross-categorical which covers a lot of things. I’m certified in ages 3-21 in LD, BD, Mildly and Moderately Mentally Handicapped, and elementary education grades 1-6. I have a degree as a Reading Specialist and am trained in Reading Recovery. These certifications have made it very easy to get jobs whenever we have moved. It’s also easier to change subject matter and age groups. Spend some extra time in working on reading instruction classes. As a teacher, we often found new graduates ill prepared for reading instruction. Balanced literacy, guided reading and interventions are really important. Reading isn’t usually taught by just using basals and “programmed reading”.
And of course, drink lots of tea. Okay, that was way to much advice… now aren’t you sorry you asked.

Absolutely not! Thank you so much! I hadn’t even given any thought to systems requiring ESL to teach at a Title One. I have some experience with Kindergarten and 1st grade, some with middle school, and some with high school. I, too, prefer the little ones.

I agree that tea and cats go together—I’ve got just the one but she’s the light of my life, a ten year old calico named Jellyfish. I got her from the RSPCA when she was a little runt! I would love more cats but Jelly wouldn’t…

Favorite writers include Walter Benjamin, George Herriman, Gina Berriault, Alice Notley, John Ashbery, Donna Haraway, Gilles Deleuze, James Tiptree Jr., Greg Egan, and Gerald Stern. Lately I’ve been reading Sofia Samatar, Ted Chiang, George Pelecanos, and Guy Gavriel Kay. Favorite musicians include Helium, My Bloody Valentine, Disco Inferno, Red House Painters, Jesu, Hood, Unwound, This Heat, and The Dirty Three (I’m also on ThisIsMyJam if you wanna link arms there!); I like shoegaze, Romantic-era classical, early ‘90s indie/college rock, altcountry, vintage girl group stuff, riot grrl, and post-punk. Right now, I’m digging Grouper, Grimes, The Knife, and Colin Stetson. Favorite movies include Ozu’s, Rohmer’s, Fassbinder’s, Dreyer’s, Breillat’s, Cassavetes’, Linklater’s, Hartley’s, Tarkovsky’s, Lubitsch’s, City Lights, Hiroshima Mon Amour, L’ecole, Legally Blonde, In The Realm Of The Senses, Safe, Three Women, The Thing, Night of the Living Dead, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, The Terminator, Alien, Near Dark, Wings of Desire, The Shining, Badlands, French Kiss, His Girl Friday, and Big Night. I just saw the Lego movie and was surprised how much I liked it! Favorite TV shows include The Wire, Slings and Arrows, Veronica Mars, The Avengers, Fishing With John, The Decalogue, Better Off Ted, Friday Night Lights, The Golden Girls, Michael Palin’s travel documentaries, the old cooking shows they used to air on Food TV 20 years ago (David Rosengarten’s Taste, Two Fat Ladies, Tony Bourdain’s first show, that sort of stuff), and any good sketch comedy. I’ve been into Elementary, American Horror Story, and Hannibal lately. Some of my favorite visual artists include Jenny Holzer, Yves Klein, Edward Hopper, Constantin Brancusi, and Whistler (poor misunderstood Whistler!). I also really enjoy nerdy board games (I strive to one day win Pandemic without cheat rules) and the occasional weird or simple video/computer game (Earthbound forever! Also Animal Crossing, Chulip, and Kingdom of Loathing!).

I work from home as a copy editor for a living, lately with a focus on academic econ writing (my degree’s actually in economics with a focus on East Asian developing economies and women in the labor force, and I did minor concentrations in linguistics and information theory as well as an undergrad).

I went to college in Pittsburgh, PA and miss the city dearly. I’d like to get out of Tennessee, looking at either the Pacific Northwest (I love Portland) or Philadelphia.

I’m married to a wonderful guy whose first love is electronic music (he’s in a band and also does solo projects for fun), we don’t have kids (and more and more I’m thinking we won’t). We do however have 2 cats (but it often feels like having 3 because one of them weighs 18 pounds!).

I love to travel (my favorite destinations include Valencia, New Orleans, Montreal, Cape Ann, Grand Case, Austin, Albuquerque, and the aforementioned NY, Philly, and Portland; I’d love to visit Pusan, the Netherlands, Iceland, Thailand, and the Piedmont region of Italy some day).

Mmm…I guess that’s about it. I’m also an awkward introvert and painfully shy, and a terrible dancer. Friends say I have an uncanny ability to read people, that my intuition’s really good, but I know I also come across as rather aloof at first. Oh, and I’m pretty immature (hence no kids). I have really enjoyed interacting with folks on Steepster. (:

I have to say, 32 is still pretty young in my books and you’ve traveled to all those places!? That’s pretty cool :)
Dude. I love food so much. I’m taking a professional cooking class right now and we have to dress up in our chef’s uniform and though it’s a 4 hour block every day of class, I love it so much! I’d definitely love to try cooking with tea in the future though. Definitely going to try making pasta with matcha soon enough :)

Aw, thanks for the response! Yeah, my husband has struggled mightily with trying to stick it out as a public high school teacher (this is his last year, he decided he couldn’t handle it anymore), but one big plus to his trying for years was the summers off—with my job the way it is, it meant we could spend months traveling. The bulk of my travels have been in the last 4 years. I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything.

I am jealous of your cooking class! That sounds so cool. And being creative with it is the best—your matcha pasta idea sounds awesome! :D

Aw thanks! I figured I’d throw ’em out there ’cause you never know when someone else might dig what you do and then you can have a rare awesome conversation! Most of my IRL local pals think I have excruciatingly boring, slooooow taste in movies and music and well…everything, haha.

yeah, i’ve never felt strongly either way about the kids thing, just lots of trepidation no matter what i imagine. but as i get older and older i recognize more and more that it’s probably unlikely i’m ever going to be like “yes, NOW i feel ready” on so many levels. and people always say “well, no one’s ever ready” but they don’t know exactly what i’m thinking about, bad family/genetic history, emotional issues, probable issues trying to conceive and bring to term anyway (i have PCOS and thyroid problems among other things), enjoying my freedom and immaturity, wanting to be able to move or take on some surprising life-changing opportunity at the drop of a hat, and just not being particularly maternal. now that it seems more and more a sure bet we aren’t, i’m coming to terms with it. it’s always good to hear from someone around my age who’s made the decision not to have kids and is comfortable with it (older folks too…i met a couple once in their 50s and she was very content with their decision, which gave me hope). so thank you. (:

ohohoh, and yay to another weightlifting lady! i often feel left out with that; all my friends run marathons and do yoga and think it’s weird i love lifting the heaviest weights i possibly can, ha.

Another one who is excited about the Veronica Mars movie. I am hoping that Veronica and Logan will be back together, but not counting on it.

ChildFree-My being CF wasn’t intentional and wanted to have kids when I was younger, though of course not till I found my dream guy. snickers Well being Queer now kind of changed that, and nearing 40, and potential health issues because of my weight. Oh I know that it’s doable still and I could very well decide with my future partner that we want to have kids, but I think I’d rather look into fostering and adopting. (Yeah I know, whole ‘nother kettle of fish.) But for now, I think I’d rather spoil my nephew (Now that he’s getting old enough to enjoy it.) and willing to ‘adopt’ a niece/nephew among my friends. Oh and would love to have more kitties, maybe a dog or 2 (Though not till finding that dream partner! And having a house with a enclosure for the pooch and maybe a heated dog house. Working full time and may not be able to go home for lunch to let the dog out, and considering the mean winter we’ve been having, the idea of just leaving my poor pooch out in the cold for long periods…argh nightmare.)

I did weightlifting in high school, I liked it:) Thought about getting back into it, though I am a procrastinator! Yoga intrigues me as well.

@ifjuly: I’m never, ever, EVER in a bazillion years having children. I hate children. I think they are the scourge of the earth. I think babies are nothing but bags of vomit and fecal matter, and there is nothing that brings more pain to my eardrums and makes me want to carve my heart out with a grapefruit spoon more than a baby crying. “Oh, you’ll love your own kids!” they say. “Changing diapers isn’t so bad!” they say. “Being a mother is the most rewarding feeling in the world!” they say. They lie. My brother has 4 kids. If I had his life, I’d kill myself. His kids are cute and all, I would throw myself in front of a bus for them, if anyone ever hurt them I would kill them in a cold-blooded rage, but I shudder at the thought of spawning my own. SHUDDER. Plus, I would make a terrible mother. I have zero patience for temper tantrums, zero patience for “naptime meltdowns”. I think my parents are finally coming to terms with the idea that I won’t be having children, and I think my mom is still upset by it. But you know what? I don’t give a flying poop. This is my life, and I get to choose what to do with it. Anyone that has a problem with that, including my family, needs to re-evaluate their own lives and find out why they want me to have children so badly. And all that money people spend on their kids and their kids’ educations? ALLMINE TO SPEND ON SPARKLYTHINGS. And tea. Buy all the tea!

You know what drives me bat poop crazy? (Trying to watch my swearing though that statement doesn’t look right without the S word. lol) is when people say stuff like that to Childfree individuals and couples. I mean ok, they might grow to regret it, but they might not! And further more because the system is already chock full of kids who are unwanted, have been abused and/or neglected I think there needs to be more people to man/woman up, declare they don’t want kids, do something about it (Usually requiring surgery.) Sorry for the diatribe, but I have relatives/friends who have been/still are teachers,social workers, firemen, police officers, etc. and have had my heart broken listening to the awful stories. Anyways….sorry for that.

Oh my gosh, Jen M, I second, third and fourth all that you said, and the rest of you childfree guys, too. My husband and I do not want to have kids either and it is so annoying how people always ask me, ME, because my husband is a man “and you know how men are, you have to convince them, they usually say don’t want to have kids – but you, you are a woman, it is a natural thing blah blah blah”. I cannot stand it… I hope that in 10 years when I am nearing turning 40, all this pestering will just stop.

I also haven’t met yet a person in “real” life (not that I meet that many of them) that would declare, as I do, that they don’t want to have children. It makes me feel kind of… lonely. So I am all the happier to hear a few voices of fellow tea-lovers that agree with me on the matter :)

Deciding whether one wants to have children is one of these serious lifestyle choices, much like choosing what you want to major in in college, where you want to live, what you want your career to be, whom you want to marry. One doesn’t HAVE TO do it. Nobody questions anyone why they are working as a nurse by asking “Why not work as a teacher? WHYNOT?”, or “Why did you marry this guy you met in college, and not your neighbor? He’s such a cool guy!”

@Kat_Maria: I find that old people have the biggest problem with my “like H-E-double-hockey-sticks I’m having kids” attitude. Back in my grandma’s day, when she was my age, it was essentially her duty to have children. She did a lot of stuff that, back then, was not “the norm” (she played hockey in University, went to University for that matter, and then worked until the day she turned 80). But not having kids if you theoretically could? She probably would have been disowned.

If other people want to have kids, power to them. I dunno how the heck they do it (like my brother and his 4 kids; 1 has autism and another has type I diabetes. Holy handful), and if that’s what they want then power to them. I’m not about to judge someone else for deciding to have 1 kid, 2 kids, 4 kids, 7 kids, or 14 kids. Just like I would hope they wouldn’t judge me for my choice to have 0 kids. But, of course, that’s a MASSIVEPROBLEM for some people. My uterus. I does what I wants with it, thanksverymuch.

ANYWAY. Tea. Yes…tea. More tea for me. And no teenagers that will steal it. I’m bad with “sharesies”. I must have skipped that class in kindergarden.

I declared at 10 – don’t like them don’t want them “awww that’s so cute, you’ll change your mind once your get older”
At 20 – don’t like em don’t want em “you’ll change your mind you just haven’t found the right guy yet”
At 30 – still don’t want any “your clock isn’t ticking yet – just wait you will”
At 40 – so happy I didn’t have any “you’ll regret that decision, you will be old and alone”.

Leave me alone, I’m perfectly happy not having any. Agreed if you want to have 1,2, or a dozen that’s fine with me, but you have to accept that my choice was ZERO. More annoying are the people who did have 3-4-6 and don’t look after, neglect etc. I think it’s better for me to realize that I don’t like them, probably wouldn’t be a good parent – than to have a couple because you are suppose to and not love and cherish them as they deserve….

Wow, look at all these childfree people here! I thought Schmiracles was the only other one. I don’t get bothered about it too often. I did for a while when I had an office job, the sort where all the coworkers have to know each others gossip and life story all the time (ugh, I hate that kind of environment). They always gave me the same “you’ll change your mind” spiel. But since then, no one bugs me about it. Im not really social enough to encounter such interference and my parents know me well enough to believe that its not going to happen.

As for changing one’s mind, sure, its possible. But you’d have to be pretty damn certain about it before getting married. Imagine the awkwardness of telling your partner that you changed you mind, assuming that you were both uninterested in children in the first place.

I am not maternal and children give me anxiety. I don’t “hate” children, though. I like the concept of a child, but i know it’s not something I can just put away in a cupboard when I’ve had my fill. Thinking about the whole responsibility alone gives me anxiety. Also, my husband and I both want careers. I believe that being a mother (or stay-at-home parent of any gender) IS a career. I have respect for parents who, due to life circumstances, must work and raise children, but if there is a choice, I believe one parent should be a parent exclusively. I hate that being “just a mother” is always modified with the “just” word. I blame feminism for this. From my perspective, all that movement did was confirm that a masculine gender role is superior and that we should all have the right AND desire to live that role. We should have the right, yes. But it shouldn’t feel forced on us. Everyone needs a non-parenting career to feel fulfilled these days. it’s sad.

Yeah, I feel the same way Shelley_Lorraine! I don’t dislike children really, it’s more that they make me nervous, and the notion of that level of responsibility towards another person just overwhelms me. I know there would be so many moments I’d be like I CANNOTDEALWITHYOURIGHTNOW and that’s rarely an option when it’s a kid!

Shelley_Lorraine – “all that movement did”? Look, we’re all entitled to opinions, but let’s stick to the facts here. Feminism wasn’t just a ‘movement’, and it isn’t over. If feminism were some dodgy cult of the past, accomplishing merely a glorification of masculine gender roles (whatever that means) I would not…

…get to vote.
…get to make decisions about my own life and body.
…get to have a job.

&c, &c, &c.

Before you criticize someone else’s ideology, please make the effort to read up on it. Feminism is a complex, controversial term and needs to be treated as such.

yeah, i was tempted to say one of the awesomest things about feminism is that it’s had a clear, fascinating evolution. it isn’t over, and part of the third wave and beyond has been about addressing the earlier movement’s (often subconscious) normalization/reification of conventionally masculine (not to mention white middle upper class) roles.

I am not much of an aggressive insant attack type and I’m also terribly awkward at replying to heated sorts of remarks, so please forgive me if I offend you or if I already have.

I am not so uneducated as you instantly assume of me. I have taken gender theory courses and written papers on related subjects. If anything my comment was taken the wrong way and I used wrong word choice. I agreed that the rights women have are a good thing that came from feminism. I said as much above. However, the gender role issue is a major negative side effect that I see has come from feminism and it is one of the rare few things at all in the world that I am opinionated about. I hate that in media and movies, guys living female roles ate objects of comedy and to be laughed at while the more serious dramas are reserved for girls who are tomboys, lesbians, or important CEOs. I don’t see that this third wave of feminism is addrssing the issue as much as it should, but I respect everyone’s opinions and humbly apologize for my poor choice of statement.

In summary, I believe everyone of all genders should have equal rights and respect no matter what they choose to do. Choosing not to be a CEO shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of. Choosing to be a housewife should be equally as respected, but I doubt it ever will.

I’m soon to be 19 and I moved to a brand new city with my tolerable roommate Tre about half a year ago (right after my graduation, pretty much), which marks my first time living on my own (yay for not just moving out of your parents’ house, but moving out of your parents’ city). Currently I am unemployed but avidly job hunting because if I can’t find a job in the next few weeks I wont have a viable method of making April’s rent. Eiiks. Other than my roommate, I know a total of two people in the city (both of whom went to highschool with me in my old town) so often I’m kinda on my own doing my own thing.

I was going to become a highschool teacher and was even accepted into the education program with an English Major and Visual Arts minor but then I freaked out and decided against it. Now I’m not sure what I want to do.

Despite being underage, I used to be addicted to several different things such as alcohol but am proud to say that I’ve been sober from all of those things for two years, coming up closer to three. I fully recognize and am aware that I have a highly addictive personality which I like inherited from my father and that I’ve just continuously replaced addictions with other addictions – leading to my current tea obsession. I’m quite content with this addiction, so I likely wont be trying to replace it any time soon. Hell, if you’re going to have a vice it might as well be a healthy one, right?

Interests include visual art – specifically clay sculpture work which I focused on all throughout highschool in my advanced art program and earned University credits for through my highschool work,casual baking, obsessive TV watching (I like to mass stream TV shows and form unhealthy emotional bonds with fictional characters and then have day or two long emotional breakdowns when I’ve finished the series), reading/writing, of course Pokemon (specifically the games), and just doing nothing in general. Plus of course tea. My favourite band is a tie between Cage The Elephant and Maroon 5.

I met James Marsters (BtVS is one of my favourite shows EVER and Spike is a total sexy bamf) and we talked about Sarah Michelle Gellar’s breasts. That probably says a lot about me. It also crossed off one of the four things I have on my bucket list (meeting James Marsters that is, not meeting him and talking about SMG’s boobs). The others are: Compete on Big Brother (and make it to Jury House), travel to Norway, and travel to Greece (specifically Delphi).

I love rodents and have a pet rat named Eloise (name after Daniel’s time travelling rat in LOST which is named after his mother) but she’s really sick and will likely pass soon. Someday I want a dog named ‘JD’. It’d stand for Just Dog.

I constantly struggle with defining/understanding my own sexuality and over the past five years I’ve labelled myself as bisexual, pansexual, asexual, aromantic, and panromantic but none of those seems right to me. As far as gender goes, I see myself a genderqueer (yes, an umbrella term) because I’m not sure where I fall – I’m comfortable being seen as anything in the gender spectrum.

I want white hair. I love the word melancholy. I think if that word could have a flavour it would be honey dew melon, vanilla and tears.

I’m obsessed with the names Margaret and Clark as girls names, and Gavin as a boys name.

OMG, I cracked up when you mentioned meeting Marsters! I just went through Buffy up to the end of season 5 a month or two ago for the first time, and spent a lot of time analyzing Spike. I wonder if he’s as funny-charming as Spike could be…

Congratulations on sobriety. We sound pretty similar in that regard along with the “no idea what to call myself” stuff re: attraction and all that. It’s nice to be reminded I’m not alone.

You sound very self aware and neat, I wish I’d been half as with it at 18, man…I was a totally confused overwhelmed mess of a lady then. I guess I still am to some extent, but over time I know myself more and more.

Kinda out of topic with where these comments are going, but dude. You’re young and you still have like your whole life ahead of you, do don’t you worry about a thing when you don’t exactly don’t know what to do with the rest of your life.
I’ve been in a very Disney mood lately, and if you’re job hunting and willing to maybe take a semester off of Uni, you can definitely apply to be a part of the International Programs that Disney offers :) I walk around Epcot a whole lot and I love talking to all of the international students I see, even at the bus stops in the housing area :)
Right after high school, I was just like you! I moved like 400 miles away to study at Uni. Dang. That was like.. tough my first year, but then I got used to it. And then I moved to Florida for like 5 months and I just got used to living without my family that the distance wasn’t too tough on me.
And I think you’d definitely get along with my roommate. She loves btvs and she’s definitely trying me to get to watch it! Sooooon though. I’ll catch up to all my other shows and then start watching that show and then I’ll be jealous that you met James Marsters. I may not know a whole lot about that show, but I do know several actors because of how much my roommate talks about it :)

But I’m Kat, shocking, I know. Early-twenties. I live in New York, but grew up in the South. I study poetry, working towards a masters in that. I’m not a very good poet, however. I used to have a plan, but now I’m bored and restless, so I’m going to have to figure out what I want to do. I watch television all the time, because I keep it going while I write. I like to write to bad horror movies, which I’ve exhausted on Netflix. My favorite movie is EvilDead2. My second favorite movie is Videodrome. I’m too tired to make an even half-way decent list of my favorite writers, but I really like William Carlos Williams eternally. I’m keenly interested in American poetics. I like fancy cocktails or cheap vodka tonics, but the bar has to be quiet enough for me to talk to other people in it. I rarely write this concisely. That’s all I really have to say for now.

I also like fancy cocktails in quiet bars, but my cheap go-to is G&Ts (or even gin and soda if the gin is good enough). We don’t have to brawl over it though; it means more gin for me and more vodka for you ;)

I love gin and tonics too, but I’m always afraid if I order one in a cheaper bar, the gin will be bad! Cheap vodka is so much more drinkable to me than cheap gin! And now I pretty much drink only vodka and tonics because I’ve gotten really fond of them.

Gah. The only Vodka I’ve liked is Smirnoff’s flavored stuff or with a sweet and non pulpy orange juice. (A friend of mine once made me a screwdriver with Orange/Banana/Pineapple juice and garnished with strawberries. It was crazy good!)
I’m not even close to being a heavy drinker. One drink can make me tipsy as hell.

Originally from Vancouver, Canada – few years ago moved to Southern California and still not used to it, plus missing family and friends. Though, I do love all the tea options and cheap shipping!

I’ve always been really into drawing and arts and crafts. I’ve worked in animation early on and careered switched to counselling. Counselling and support work got me into tea as the work is quite stressful.

I got way too many hobbies – I knit and crochet. I crochet a lot, selling dolls as well as patterns. I enjoy drawing really cutesy anime style. I like to cook and bake, rarely eating out. I primarily listen to metal music, but been into kpop these days. I play video games. On and off World of Warcraft player. I read quite a bit, mostly romance and young adult.
I do Brazilian jiujitsu, a blue belt. I love nail art, but annoyingly my manicures don’t last long thanks to jiujitsu. My nail polish collection and yarn stash have similarities to my tea stash – over the top. I’d love to get into sculpture, jewelry making, sewing or quilting, but I have enough going with crocheting and tea blogging at OolongOwl. I buy way too many stuff toys as well.

I married an american, that’s why I moved as he has the better paying job.

BJJ doesn’t take too much coordination. I mean, I’m klutzy and not that strong, but I got some flexibility which really helps. You’ll learn to use what you got in terms of body shape.

And yeah, counselling courses was interesting. A lot was like self reflection and separating like one’s opinion/values/beliefs from the clients. Clients time to time might say stuff that’ll set you off (or the client did something that you find morally offensive) and you need to learn what those things are to be prepared, not react poorly, or be able to pass the client to someone else. Other than that, lots of stuff about listening and asking the right questions with the right words.

Where in SoCal are you?
I originally lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I’m studying down in SoCal near Disneyland hehe :)
I’ve never met anyone who did BJJ before! That’s actually pretty cool. I do have a close friend who was a black belt in Krav Maga, if that counts haha

Hmm, that’s a good question. Appears that I have 165 bottles, including top/base coats. So 158 colours mostly OPI, Zoya, and Color Club. My favorite brand at the moment is Zoya. Oh, and I got a couple sets of BM and a set of Konad plates.

Zoya is my favorite too! <3 I need to go through my spreadsheet and take out the bottles I’m trying to sell but I think I have around 600 not including base or top coats. Have you heard of MoYou London? They have some gorgeous stamping plates. I haven’t gotten any yet myself but it’s one of my goals for this summer.

I’m a huge China Glaze person myself, but I’m waiting for Zoya to have a sale, because I’m really intrigued by their colors and people rave about the polish application. I have an amazing Color Club color, too. It’s bright orange and a dual chrome. I haven’t used it yet, because the color is a bit too spring. That was a tangent.

I don’t think I could do counseling as a career, (Well not actively. Though there are many jobs where having the knowledge and skills would be useful.) So I think taking some classes in that subject would be really interesting.

Nail Art-lol. I admire the skill, but overall if I have any polish on my nails I prefer it to be clear or just a tad sparkly or lightly metallic. Working with my hands alot often makes my nails look like crap, and I don’t usually have the patience to give myself a manicure or the moola to pay for one.

Originally from Lake Forest, IL (about 45 or so minutes north of Chicago) and currently live in North Eastern Wisconsin. I’ve traveled quite a lot, and lived briefly in Seattle as well, but somehow keep winding up back in the midwest.

My paternal side of the family is very very Italian, and someday I would love to go to Italy.

I do IT consulting and network management for small businesses. I’ve tossed around the idea of going back to school for elementary education, but I’m honestly very happy with my life right now.

I live with my fiance. We’ve been together five years, and engaged three or those, and really just haven’t gotten around to getting married. He’s also in IT, and is SysAdmin at a good-sized local company with branch offices throughout the US. My two parakeets (Skitter and Gandalf) also live with us. Skitter is a bright yellow monster and Gandalf is grey and way more collected than she is.

I have a healthy handful of hobbies. I love music (everything but rap and country, really) and play piano, french horn, and oboe, though I really only pursue the piano anymore. I read quite a lot, mostly science fiction and fantasy genres and love forcin—er recommending books to my fiance. I’m a huge Tolkien buff (as has been pointed out in other threads), and was incredibly excited when HBO picked up A Song of Ice and Fire. I’m bummed that they’re no longer doing the American Gods miniseries that was planned, but Gaiman has mentioned that it has been picked up, so I’ll just continue anxiously awaiting that. I love cooking so much, and baking just slightly less so. I play video games (though not as much as I used to), and enjoy RPGs the most (JRPGs more than Western style ones though). I used to swim, but wrecked my shoulder. I went to (junior) nationals twice for various events.

Lessee, vodka is my favorite liquor, there is never a wrong time for a bloody mary, I’m an unwavering feminist, and this ended up longer than I anticipated.

I used to have a parakeet. nobody believed me (except my family of course) he talked. He had like around 100 words in his vocabulary and could speak some sentences like 3-5 words. Of course he memorized those sentences. mostly like when my mom was mad at my sis for not doing her hw. I had to leave him with my friend in Russia, he wouldn’t make it to US. He was like 21 yr old when he passed. His name was Roma

Aww, Roma sounds wonderful! I’m sorry you had to give him up. That’s always insanely hard. It’s incredible how long he lived, though.

I had to do the same with my cockatiel, Fuzzlesworth, though. He used to chirp to commercial music and wolf whistle at mirrors while calling himself ‘Pretty Birdy’ and have a couple other delightful phrases. He lives with a nice family south of where I am now.

I think parakeets can indeed talk, but aren’t the smartest birds (which doesn’t mean they aren’t smart!) But that Cockatiels have tongues that can’t produce speech, but are wicked smart and good at mimicking. I can’t remember where I read that, just something I picked up, I think for a poem I was researching for and never wrote. I’ve always wanted a bird, but I just don’t know if I can take the plunge into being a first time bird owner. I love birds, though, and I’d love to own a cockatiel.

Hello! Mem, recently turned 30, living in the capital city at the little island at the bottom of Australia (aka the state of Tasmania). I moved here for a cool change after 28 years of living in one of Australia’s more tropical states (Queensland) and hating summer with a fiery passion. Took me 28 years but I finally summoned the gall to get out of the fire!

I live alone with my cat though I have a lot of friends and family come visit, so my guest room is occupied frequently—I also host it out on Airbnb (though friends and family get priority!). I’m currently working in a telco call centre but as all call centres are, it’s quite a drain on the heart and soul. I’m desperate to get into the hospitality industry (I’d love to own a little cocktail bar but with no hospo experience feel like I need a run of it first to decide whether I would actually like it, yanno?) but trying to get a foot in the service door at the age of 30 is a real struggle.

I’ve recently returned from my third trip overseas—I spent Christmas in Quebec City and then NYE and my 30th in NYC. I did all that with a broken ankle in a cast and then a cam boot, with crutches and a mobility scooter, because I am a little crazy and far too stubborn for my own good.

Tasmania is stunning. All four seasons are beautiful, it’s lovely and temperate down here. In winter (and at really random times of the year) we get snow on the big mountain that looms over Hobart (Mt Wellington) but not down in the city. 40% of the island is protected forest. We have some of the best bush walks in the world (check out Cradle Mountain and Wineglass Bay for an example) and more recently one of the most interesting museums (the Museum of Old and New Art). I’ve been here for 18 months now and I’m so happy with my decision to move here. The only thing I really miss are my close friends and family from QLD, but a lot of them have visited at least once since I moved, because I am their excellent excuse to visit Tassie!

Career: I currently work in fast food. I detest it, but it’s a job. I trained to be a Nurses Aide last summer but due to other crap going on, have not found a job in that field yet, with exception of taking care of my Grandmother one day a week.

Hobbies: For the past 2 years, tea really has been my only hobby, along with writing, (Which fortunately doesn’t cost anything.) For the past year been buying tea stash sales, which is an amazing way to discover alot of great teas.

Interests: (That could turn into hobbies/obsessions.) Knitting/Crocheting, Batik Fabric Dyeing (Wax resist.) Silk Painting,Polymer Clay, Art Journaling Painting, Beading. Cooking. (Actually looking up recipes takes up more of my time then actual cooking. Those are just the ones I am most interested in, many others that I’ve been idly curious about.

Music: LOL it seriously depends on my mood. I grew up listening to alot of 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, mostly Folk/Folk Rock or what my Dad calls Protest music.Simon and Garfunkel, Peter Paul and Mary. Some semi ambient/Rock Opera type musicians/groups like Meatloaf, Moody Blues, Fleetwood Mac. Went thru a Metallica influenced heavy metal period in my teens, and some HM still has a pull on me, though I can’t stand most of the screamy/growly stuff.Lacuna Coil,Omnia, The Gathering. Started listening to Celtic/World beat music in my teens as well, which in turn got both my parents interested.

Favorite Authors:Charles de Lint, Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce, Rick Riordan, J.A. Jance, Erich Segal. J.K.Rowling Those are all the ones I could think of off the top of my head.

TV Shows: Justified (Actually just started watching it tonight. Love it so far.) Lost Girl, Charmed, Supernatural. Law & Order (All)

Favorite stores: Teavana, Tranquilitea (Tea shop near my Grams.)Joann’s (Chain multi craft stores.) Build a Bear, Williams & Sonoma (Actually too high end for me, I just like looking around the stores/website, day dreaming about being able to afford their stuff.)

God, I read the crap out of the Tamora Pierce books when I was younger. And the Mercedes Lackey books that were retellings of fairy tales using elementals. I’m really fond of the Tamora Pierce books still, though.

Some of my most prized possessions are my signed Song of the Lioness quartet and personally signed copy of Wild Magic. I choose to believe that it’s totally fine for a grown woman to read young adult novels. Also to shamelessly eat the occasional whole pint of ice cream for dinner.

Yay! More Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce and Rick Riordan fans! As for Anne McCaffrey, I wanted to like her stuff, but the only books I got into were the Pegasus books (Starting with To Ride Pegasus.) then the later connection books starting with The Rowan, and Damia. (Wasn’t crazy about Damia’s Children or Lion’s Pride, though wanted to be.) My Mom liked Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders, and for years she was pretty much the only Fantasy author that she would read. (My Mom as a kid/teen read Heinlan, Asimov, etc.) But luckily in the past 20 years she has been able to expand her reading to enjoy the Darkover books started by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Sara Douglas books (Wayfarer Trilogy.) and Lisanne Normon’s Sholan Alliance Series. My Dad enjoyed some of those as well, though he mostly prefers Military influenced fantasy.